Since opening in early 2015, this contemporary, Japanese Izakaya restaurant has settled on a succinct crowd-pleasing menu, sleek and stylish interior, killer cocktails and Japanese craft beers to match!
Izakaya is the name of a style of Japanese eating establishment in which an assortment of delicious delicacies are served to accompany the finest Japanese beers, lagers, wine and whiskey… Not to mention in-house sake! The tempting menu offers fresh sushi and sashimi, a wide range of hot and cold tapas, dumplings, salads and dishes from the Rabata grill. Firm favourites include the Yellowtail jalapeno roll, Salmon seared in hot oil with yuzu soy, Ebi tempura and grilled rib eye with sweet soya sauce.
Murakami
Japanese Restaurant in Trafalgar Square
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No longer at this address
Our records show that Murakami is closed.
Cuisine
Japanese
Japanese
Region
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Murakami Picture Gallery
All In London Review
Murakami add their own twists to Japanese dishes
A prime example is the sushi. The King Roll is filled with large tempura prawns, avocado and a healthy dollop of aioli. The whole thing has been flame seared with the prawn tails left to peak out at the ends, before slicing and topping with tobiko roe. The Volcano Roll is stuffed with salmon, tuna and yellowtail, dipped in tempura batter and deep fried. Both are great.
We're separated from the kitchen only by glass, so the flames rising up from the robata grill are in plain view. From the grill we order scallops, covered with sliced chillies and served with pak choi and basil, and a tender rib eye, sliced and dunked on sweet soy sauce with shitake mushrooms. Grilled asparagus is noteworthy as the chunky bits of the spears you normally don't want to eat have also been cooked on the robata, leaving them soft and full of flavour.
The ebi tempura are five giant fried prawns, rendered juicy with the tails perfectly crisp and edible. It comes with a mildly spicy pot of ginger and daikon broth on the side.
There are other little things we like - the table soy sauce is above average for its rich, almost matured flavour, and as a side note, the jazzy, deep house playing in the background is several notches above ambient muzak.
Reviewed by Leila
anonymously
Published on Apr 12, 2016
Competent Japanese food, although it’s not going to set the world alight
This izakaya-style restaurant has an open kitchen and a counter where you can watch the chefs as they slice pieces of sashimi. The menu is modern Japanese, and though most of what we eat is stuff we’ve had before like miso soup with seafood, kara age chicken popcorn and pork gyoza, we have no complaints over the quantity or quality of juicy chunks of fish and meat in each dish. Our favourites are the very flavoursome rib-eye steak with mushrooms robata-grilled with sweet soy sauce, new style salmon sashimi seared in hot oil, and tuna tataki, a cake-shaped mound of rich tuna tartare with a wasabi kick, on a bed of cucumber with two red grapefruit segments on the side.
The desserts are less interesting: green tea cheese cake is a little bland while the trio of mousses (mango with passion fruit seeds, coconut, and raspberry) is overly sweet by comparison.
What is definitely worthy of attention is the drinks list, with Japanese-inspired cocktails, whiskies and a comprehensive selection of sakes available as shots or jugs for two - the Tenzan Yuzushu is as citrusy as limoncello, and there is sweet plum sake served hot.
The food is prepared to a very competent level and well-presented, although it’s not going to set the world alight.
Reviewed by Leila
anonymously
Published on Aug 14, 2015
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